'AH: Father of the Legal Legacy of the House of the Prophet
From a very young age, reportedly from around age five, 'All was brought up by the Prophet, who in turn had been brought up by 'All's father, Abu Talib, who had taken custody of Muhammad when the latter lost both of his parents as well as his grandfather, 'Abd al-Muttalib.
Thereafter 'All lived with the Prophet, became the first male to embrace Islam at the age of ten, married the Prophet's daughter, and accompanied the Prophet until the end of his life. He thus witnessed at close hand what the Prophet said and did during the course of his life as a prophet, and was as such considered a major authority on the Prophet's Sunna:[618]ارصرعمربن الخئئاب على عبد الله ين جعفرربين مضزجحن وهولحرم فقال: ما هذه الثياب؟ فقال على ين أبي طال: ما أخال أحدا يشنا اسلئة. فسكت عمر.[619]
'Umar b. al-Khattab saw 'Abd Allah b. Ja'far wearing two red garments while in the state of pilgrim sanctity. He said, "What are these clothes?” 'All b. Abi Talib said, "I would not think that anyone [would try to] teach us[620] the Sunna.” 'Umar kept silent.
عن أم المؤمتين عائغة، قالت: علي أعلم الناس بالسئة.[621]
Aisha said, "'Ali is the most knowledgeable of the people about the Sunna.”
عن أي سعيد الخدري قال: كانت عللي من رسول الله دخهل لم تكن لأحد من الناس.[622]
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said, "'All had an access to the Messenger of God that nobody else shared.”
قال علي: كنت إذا سألثه (يعني التبي - صل لله عله وآل وسئم) أنبأني وإذا علي: ءخ : ** ; ٠٠٠ صل ض ٠٠ سلم ٠ ت هذ سكت ابتدأفى.[623]
'Ali said, "When I asked him—meaning the Prophethe would inform me, and when I kept silent he would begin speaking to me.” 'All was also recognized for his knowledge of the Qur'an:
أبو الطفيل قال: شهدت عدتا يخطب وهو يقول: ما من آية إلا وأنا أعلم بللى نزيت أم بهار، في سهل أم في جبل.[624]
[Abu al-Tufayl:] I saw 'Ali giving a speech, saying, "There is no passage [of the Qur'an] of which I do not know whether it was revealed during the night or during the day, on a plain or on a mountain.”
As noted earlier, the legal legacy of the Family of the Prophet was faithfully to follow 'All's legal decisions and practice:
عن اين عباس قال: إذا حدثتا ئقة عن علي بقتيا لم نعدها.[625]
[Ibn 'Abbas:] When a reliable transmitter related to us a legal opinion of 'Ali, we did not go beyond it.
Later in the Umayyad period, before the mass fabrication of reports in 'Ah's name became the norm,[626] [627] Jafar al-Sadiq would advise his followers to follow what the proto-Sunni hadith transmitters quoted from 'All, if they could not find any instruction by later Imams on a given question: إذا نزيت ككم حادثة لا تجدون حكمها في ما روي عئا فانظروا إلى ما رووه عن على *ن * /٠م ع" ٠ ٠٠ د٠٠^ ه ٠٠ فاعملوا به.33 If a case comes up for you and you do not find a ruling for it based on what has been transmitted from us, look to what these people transmit from 'All and act on it. يونس ن أبي وهب اكعرصي عن أبي عبد الله قال: إعلم أن أمير المؤمنين أفضل عند الله من الأئمة كلهم ول ثواب أعمالهم، وعلى قدرأعمالهم فضلوا.[628] [Yunus b. Abi Wahb al-Qasri:] Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Know that the Commander of the Faithful is favored by God above all the Imams; he gets the reward for their [good] deeds, and they are favored according to the measure of their deeds.” عيس ين عبد لله العلوي قال: إذا سمعت حديثين وثبت عندي حديث عن النى - صلى الله عله وآل وسلم - وحديث عن على، أخذت الحديث الذي عن على لأل كان أعلم الناس بآخرماكان عله الني — صلى لله عله وآل وسلم.[629] [Isa b. 34 35 36 37 عبيد ين زرارة عن أبي عبد الله في الرجل يؤخذ وعله حدود أحدها التل، قال: كان علي يقيم عله الحدود ۶ يقتله. ولانخالف عليا. ['Ubayd b. Zurara:] On the question of [how to sequence the punishments of] a man arrested and [found] liable to several hadd punishments, including the death penalty, Abu 'Abd Allah said, "'All used to apply the hadd punishments [first] and then the capital punishment. And we do not go against 'All's decisions.” محقد بن مسلم قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عن الثوبين الردين بالثوب المرتفع والعير بالعيرن والدابة بالداينين؟ فقال: كره ذلك علي فتحن نكرهه.[630] [631] [Muhammad b. أبؤبصيرعن أبي عبد لله في رجل استبدل قورصنن فيهما برمطبوخ بقوصرة فيها تمرمشقق، قال: هذا مكروه. قال: أبوبصير ولم نكره؟ فقال: كان علي بن أبي طالب بكره أن متبدل [وسق من تمرخييربوسقين من تمرالمدينة].[632]لأن تمرالمدينة أدونهما. ولم بكن علي ;كره الحلال.[633] [Abu Baslr:] Commenting on a man who exchanged two receptacles of cooked, unripe dates for one receptacle of mature dates, Abu 'Abd Allah said, "This is cautioned against.” Abu Basir said, 'Why is that?” He said, "'All b. Abi Talib disapproved of a load of dates from Khaybar being exchanged for two loads of Medinan dates, because the Medinan dates are the lower quality of the two.[634] And 'All was not one to disapprove of what was lawful.” عبد الله ين سنان قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عن رجل كانت تحته أمة فطلنها على اسلئة فبانت منه، بم اشارها بعد ذلك قبل أن تنكح زوجا غيره؟ قال: أليس قد قفى على فى هذه؟ [635] ['Abd Allah b. الحكم ين أبي عقيل قال: قلت لأبي عبد الله: إن لي خصما تكهرعزاً باسلهود الزور وقد كرهت مكافاته مع أبي لا أدرى أبصلح لي ذلك أم لا؟ قال: فقال لي: أما بلغك عن أميرالمؤمنين 'أده كان يقول: لاتؤسروا أنفسكم وأموالكم بشهادات الزور؟ فما على امرئ من وكف ي ديته ولا مأبم من رؤاه إن بدفع ذلك عنه.[638] [Hakam b. Abi 'Aqil:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “I have an adversary who brings a lot of false witnesses against me, and I hate to retaliate. عبيد ين زررة عن أبي عبد الله لي الرجل بشافرلي شهررمضان، بصوم أوئغطر؟ قال: إن خرج قبل الزوال فليقطر، وإن خرج بعد الزوال فليصم. قال: إعرف ذلك بقول على: »أصوم وأفطرحى إذا زت اسلمس عزم على« (بجي الصيام(.[639] ['Ubayd b. Zurara:] On the question whether a man traveling during the month of Ramadan should fast or break his fast, Abu 'Abd Allah said, “If he leaves before noon, he is to break his fast, but if he leaves after the noon, he is to fast.” He said, “This is known from the saying of 'Ah: ‘I [have the choice to] fast or break my fast until the sun passes its zenith, at which point fasting becomes obligatory for me.'” The legacy of the Family of the Prophet, manifested in both words and practice, was passed through the family from one generation to the next.[640] There were also written books and documents that Ja'far and his father possessed and occasionally referred to,[641] including an early book called Kitab 'All, which contained much of the material that 'All transmitted from the Prophet, both statements and actions, as well as his own juridical decisions during his caliphate.[642] Ja'far once showed the book to a disciple of his, Zurara b. A'yan, to document a remark.[643] There are also references to a text on the designated shares of inheritance recorded by 'All from the statements of the Prophet, titled Sahifat al-fara’id or Fara’id 'All, which Ja'far and his father had in their possession and sometimes showed and read to their associates.[644] These texts were among the oldest records of the Sunna of the Prophet, alongside a text containing the guidelines that the Prophet wrote for 'Amr b. Hazm,[645] a Companion whom he allegedly sent, carrying this text, to the chiefs of Najran in southwestern Arabia near the border with Yemen to collect religious taxes. The text was preserved in the family of 'Amr b. Hazm until the mid-second century. A couple of hadith transmitters of the early-second century reported seeing the text in the possession of 'Amr's grandson, Abu Bakr b. Muhammad b. 'Amr b. Hazm.[646] In the time of Ja'far al-Sadiq, it was held by the latter's son, 'Abd Allah, with whom Malik found the document and quoted from it.[647] According to one report, Ja'far asked a student of his, the transmitter Abu Maryam,[648] to retrieve the text from the same person so that Ja'far could review it. Abu Maryam went and took the text and brought it to Ja'far.[649] As attested by an extremely large number of references,[650] 'All's transmission of the Prophet's words and practice, as well as his own judicial decisions during his time as caliph, were the foundation of the legal school of Ja'far al-Sadiq.[651] [652] After 'All, the opinions and practice of his two sons, Hasan al-Mujtaba and Husayn, and then of Husayn's son 'All Zayn al-'Abidin٥° informed the legacy of the Family of the Prophet.[653] It was, however, with Muhammad al-Baqir that this legacy assumed a formal shape as a systematic and well-organized tradition.[654] The main source for Jafar alSdiq's school after the Qur'an and the Sunna of the Prophet as quoted by 'All, and 'All's own judgments was thus the teachings and practice of Muhammad al-Baqir.[655] This fact is well documented in hundreds of references by Ja'far to his father, as recorded in the early sources.[656] It explains his instruction to one of his disciples: ما سمعت متى فاروه عن أبى.[657] Whatever you hear from me, you can quote from my father.[658] II.